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Let me be honest here and say what I truly want to say about the following New York Times stories: It’s about freaking time. Now, I say that both as a journalist and as one of those old-school supporters of human rights who still likes to quote, every now and then, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights from that right-wing think tank, the United Nations.
After years of pointing out how unbelievably unprofessional the journalism of same-sex marriage coverage was, something weird happened last week. Instead of the typical media suppression and derision, we started seeing stories about the people and arguments in favor of retaining marriage as a heterosexual institution.
And now for something completely different in the coverage of the election of Pope Francis — complaints from Viennese newspaper Der Standard that some coverage was unfair to atheists.
So I’m sitting in a restaurant eating my lunch and, up on the wall, the large-screen television is tuned to CNN, where a lengthy report is unfolding about a European Union plan attempt to raise the corporate tax rates on Cyprus, a land in which wealthy Russians have funneled billions into tax shelters.
So, let’s assume that you are a Catholic leader and you pick up your morning newspaper and it contains a story in which Pope Francis is described as “a leader” of the world’s Catholic Christians.
When the news broke about the election of the first Jesuit pope, several on-air commentators offered variations on the following line: “You know, I bet they are popping the corks on champagne bottles right now out at Georgetown University.”
You will be shocked, shocked, need I say SHOCKED to know that this week’s “Crossroads” podcast focuses on mainstream press coverage of the events before and after the election of Pope Francis as the new leader of of the world’s 1.2 billion (depending on how one does the counting) Catholics.
Let’s flash back, for a moment, to the early stages of the tsunami of papal conclave coverage. Readers will recall that I wondered — in light of existing New York Times guidelines on the use of anonymous sources — why the Gray Lady’s offerings in Rome were built almost entirely on anonymous sources.
It’s another great day to be a newspaper junkie who enjoys checking out front pages across the nation after major breaking news.
